To our dear friends, colleagues, and industry partners,
In lieu of our monthly newsletter, we would like to pay tribute to Jerry Fasolino Jr., our (late) President.
Over the years, Jerry gained the respect and friendship from many people in our industry. He always spoke so highly of the people he met and he was grateful for their time and patience. We'd like to share his story with you.
On July 10
th
, 2018 Jerry Fasolino Jr. passed away after a long battle with Cancer at the young age of just 43 years old. He left behind his beautiful wife, Erin, and his two young children, ages 4 and 1. He is survived by his parents Jerry and Helen, his sister Stacey, and his two brothers, Nick and Mark - whom have also helped him run the business.
Jerry Jr. began working at Alternative Rubber & Plastics in 1995 with his father Jerry Sr. As the business grew, so did Jerry’s responsibilities and vision. Jerry Jr. worked in every position from Shipping and Receiving to Customer Service and Product Line Manager. Eventually he took on the role as Vice President.
ARP had a very difficult year when, in 2008, they lost one of their primary suppliers which cut their sales by almost 90% overnight. Later that same year, Jerry Sr. struggled with very serious health issues. Thankfully, he survived. At only 33 years of age, Jerry Jr. and his younger brothers, Nick and Mark, were left in a tough position to keep the business going. Jerry Jr. had great instincts and a broad understanding of what the rubber industry needed. Over the next several years, Jerry Jr. methodically built the business to prevent ever being indebted to one supplier or customer. He also focused his efforts on more specialty items and surrounded himself with the necessary technical staff to compete on a large scale.
Through hard work, persistence and following his core values he was able to align himself with some of the leading raw material manufacturers in the industry. Jerry Jr. extensively traveled the world looking for complimentary products. He found like-minded suppliers who were able to appreciate his approach to the market. Jerry Jr. loved the idea of enabling American Manufacturers to compete on a global level by supplying them with quality products at a cost savings. Over the next 10 years, ARP experienced an estimated 20% growth year after year. In 2017, the company went through a major rebranding to become ARP Materials and reflect the diversity in their product lines and their full service capabilities.
Throughout his battle, Jerry Jr. kept his illness private since he never liked the attention. No matter how tough times got or how bad he felt, Jerry Jr. worked with tremendous determination in order to continue the vision he started. He was able to grow the staff at ARP Materials from 9 people in 2008 to 28 people in 2018 - all while surpassing sales records each year!
Nick and Mark Fasolino, along with their father, will continue on with his vision of being one of the best distribution companies the Rubber Industry has ever seen.
